How to Configure Outlook 2007 Via Group Policy

You can configure specific Outlook 2007 group policies in a similar way as you would for other software or computer policies. However, Windows does not include the administrative template for Outlook 2007 by default in its list of group policy options. This means you must download the template and place it in the appropriate computer directory. Once you have the administrative template for Outlook 2007 installed, you can configure such policies as automatic profile setup and users' ability to change mailbox folder permissions.

• 1

  Go to the Microsoft Download Center website. (See Resources.) Type in "Outlook 2007 Admin Files" in the search box and press "Enter." Click the "2007 Office System Administrative Template Files" search result that appears.

• 2

  Click the "Download" button on the page and save the file to your computer. Double-click the saved "exe" file on your computer. Click "Run," agree to the License Agreement and select a folder on your computer in which to store the files. Follow the on-screen prompts to extract the files.

• 3

  Open the folder in which you extracted the administrative template files. Open the "ADMX" folder. Select both the "outlk12.admx" template file and your language pack folder. Right-click the highlighted entries and click "Copy."

• 4

  Go into the "Policy Definitions" folder on your computer. This folder resides within either the "Windows" folder on the primary hard drive or in the "SYSVOL" folder within your domain controller if you're using an Active Directory environment. Right-click inside the "Policy Definitions" folder and click "Paste." Click "Yes" if an overwrite message appears for the language pack folder.

• 5

  Open the Group Policy Management Editor from the "Administrative Tools" folder or section within the "All Programs" list, or "Control Panel" if operating within an Active Directory network environment. Navigate to the "Group Policy Objects" folder. Right-click the policy you want to configure Outlook policies on and select "Edit."

  Open the "Run" box, type "gpedit.msc" and press "Enter" to open the Local Group Policy Editor if you're configuring Outlook policies on a local computer instead of an Active Directory environment.

• 6

  Double-click "User Configuration" in the left column of the program window to expand it. Double-click "Policies" and then "Administrative Templates." Click the "Microsoft Office Outlook 2007" folder to view policy options in the main Group Policy Editor window.

• 7

  Double-click the name of a Outlook 2007 policy section you want to configure from the "Settings" section in the main window. Double-click the names of each of the policies to open the settings window. Select "Not Configured," "Enabled" or "Disabled" for each policy. Set any detailed policy settings as applicable. Click "OK" in each policy window.